1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method in a pen based computing system for arranging various pieces of the user interface to accommodate the hand orientation of the user.
2. Background of the Invention
The traditional method for real time interaction with a computer system has been the keyboard. As long as the keyboard has been used, the handedness of the user has not presented a problem with respect to making a computer easier to use. With the introduction of the mouse as an alternative means for interacting with a computer system, the handedness of the user became an ergonomic concern for computer system designers, but the issues that arose were dealt with relatively easily. In multiple button mouses, the effect each button had could be inverted based on the handedness of the user so that the index finger would always be placed on the button most often pressed. No graphical or on screen alterations were needed to accommodate the special needs of a left-handed computer user.
Recently, however, pen based computers have incorporated the use of a simulated pen device to interact with a computer system. This system of interaction has, for the first time, caused the handedness of the user to become a major consideration in the way the computer displays information. When commands are entered in a pen based computer, the pen is placed on the screen. This pen placement causes the users hand, which is normally holding the pen, to be positioned in front of the display screen where it can obscure certain portions of the display. In some instances, the area being obscured may contain information the user wishes to see while interacting with the system. The layout of the display can, of course, be arranged to minimize the situation where the portion of the screen obstructed contains little useful information. However, the layout that achieves this goal to the greatest degree for one user may not do so for another, differently dexterous user.
The layout of scroll bars in a data display window presents an example of the type of problems encountered when configuring the interface of a pen based computer system. In the past, scroll bars have been located in a horizontal position at the bottom of a display window and in a vertical position on the right side of a display window. For a right-handed pen based computer user this is the optimum position. When data is scrolled either up or down or side to side, his hand only obscures portions of the screen that are outside the display window. A left-handed user will not enjoy the same result. When the left handed user places the pen on the vertical scroll bar located on the right side of the display window, his hand will be located directly above the data being viewed in the display window. The layout that was best for the right handed user is clearly not best for the left handed user.
Additionally, the pen based computer user who hooks his hand while writing, a practice that is not uncommon, will encounter a similar problem. A person who writes with a hooked wrist causes his hand to circle around the area being written on so that his pen points in a downward direction when he writes. Most often it is the left handed user who writes in this manner so that he will be able to see what he is writing more clearly, and so he will not smear the newly written ink as he moves his hand across the page from left to right. When the user who writes with a hooked grip manipulates the horizontal scroll bar located at the bottom of the display window, his hand will undesirably locate in front of the display window.
Another example of the problems pen based computing creates with respect to the dexterity of the user is the orientation of the cursor with respect to the handedness of the user. A right-handed user who holds his hand straight will tend to point to the bottom right-hand side of an object he wishes to manipulate. A cursor with its arrowhead pointed up and to the left is ideal for this situation because it does not obscure the character or word being pointed at. Again, however, for a left-handed person, or a person who writes with a hooked wrist, the tendency is to point at a different corner of a letter or object being manipulated. For this person the cursor pointing up and left obscures the object or text at which the pen is pointed. This creates another inconvenience for the user who does not write with his right hand oriented in a straight position.